podcast riley

Review of Portishead's THIRD CD May 5, 2008

Tim Riley — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:20:08 GMT

The new Portishead album, THIRD, has been worth the nine years' wait.

Neil Young, Loose Cannon

Tim Riley — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:02:46 GMT

Neil Young proclaims music has lost its power to change the socio-political order of things. While promoting the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young documentary at the Berlin Film Festival. Well, are you gonna cover that or the Stones premiere?

The Band's Levon Helm, Dirt Farmer review 1-2-08

Tim Riley — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:42:12 GMT

Levon Helm's new album, Dirt Farmer, collects songs the drummer/singer remembers from his Arkansas youth.

Springsteen: Magic Tour Opener 10-2-07

Tim Riley — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:24:58 GMT

Springsteen opened his Magic Tour at the Hartford Civic Center the other night. WBUR's HERE AND NOW broadcast this review.

Across the Universe review

Tim Riley — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:57:11 GMT

Today's Here and Now review of Across the Universe, a movie that's as impressive as it is disappointing. (At least they don't have the poor guy sing "Yesterday.") Reminded me of how poorly served T Bone Burnett was in WALK THE LINE: even material this well arranged and produced can't support a flimsy script. And why do we keep returning to this material, feeding on it and shoveling money down its well when nobody's it's never been improved by any other medium, beginning with Frampton Bee Gees nightmare and on through Beatlemania and that sappy Lennon musical and LOVE, the Vegas sellout blockbuster. It makes you yearn for YELLOW SUBMARINE, which at least didn't take itself so seriously. How can Taymor (JULIE TAYMOR!) waste an actor like her old Obie pal Bill Irwin (uncredited)? Why is "Max" (Joe Anderson) such a dead ringer for... Kurt Cobain?!? Can rock, conceived to kill off musicals, ever revive the tired Broadway's form? Does anybody ever want to sit through another choreogrpher who wants to try? It's Eddie Izzard's movie, the rest of them mistake oversinging for acting.

Leon Fleisher's Epic Comeback

Tim Riley — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:27:46 GMT

Musicians revere pianist Leon Fleisher for his early concerto recordings with conductor George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra in the late 1950s: his Beethoven cycle is still a marvel and still in print. But where Beethoven was robbed of his hearing, Fleisher was robbed of his fingers: in the early 1960s, right as he was preparing for a major tour, he contracted a rare neurological condition called focal dystonia, which curved and stiffened the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand and forced him into early retirement. Over the past five years, however, Fleisher has returned to the two-hand repertoire due to some breakthrough treatment, including botox injections and rolfing muscle therapy. On August 2, HBO will broadcast an Oscar-nominated documentary about Fleisher called TWO HANDS, which includes footage of Fleisher talking, playing and teaching. His current CD is called THE JOURNEY, and our music critic Tim Riley has a preview of Fleisher's unlikely third act…

Australian Broadcasting: Sgt Pepper

Tim Riley — Mon, 28 May 2007 15:03:18 GMT

Another Sgt Pepper story, down under.

SGT PEPPER AT 40

Tim Riley — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:03:21 GMT

Commentary with Tim Page and Anthony DeCurtis about the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Abbey Road Reunion

Tim Riley — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:16:41 GMT

ABBEY ROAD REUNION: KNOB-TWIDDLERS REVEAL ALL IN NEW BOOK by Tim Riley, NPR critic and Beatle author [If link above doesn't work, try this one...] In November of 2006, over 30 engineers gathered for a reunion at Abbey Road studios in London, where many of them worked uncredited on Beatles sessions. The occasion was the release of RECORDING THE BEATLES, by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, a major new entry in Beatle scholarship emphasizing recording techniques and analog equipment. It's a story about how EMI's rigorous training paradoxically led to numerous innovations, upending years of convention. The creative solutions these techies achieved helped the Beatles create rock's most ingenious and enduring sounds, and RECORDING THE BEATLES draws the curtain on many of their previously unexplained achievements. The podcast includes interviews with Kehew, engineers Ken Townshend, Richard Lush, Chris Thomas, and Ken Scott, as well as American producers Steve Albini (Nirvana, Stooges) and Steve Hoffman (DCC). With Beatle stories peppering the narrative, Riley provides a backstage glimpse at the wizards who helped translate Lennon and McCartney songs onto tape. Tim Riley is the author of TELL ME WHY: A BEATLES COMMENTARY and other books on rock, and an NPR critic who files for WBUR's HERE AND NOW in Boston. He recently launched a new music linkfarm, RILEY ROCK INDEX.com. For more information, visit: RECORDING THE BEATLES by Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew Curvebender Publishing http://www.recordingthebeatles.com EMI's Abbey Road Studios http://www.abbeyroad.com RILEY ROCK INDEX.com http://www.rileyrockindex.com feed://feeds.feedburner.com/RileyRockIndex

Guilty Pleasures

Tim Riley — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:53:42 GMT

broadcast: 2/26/07, with Renee Graham of the Boston Globe. Shania cares!

Box Sets review

Tim Riley — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:50:15 GMT

the holiday piece, with imaginary diagram broadcast date: 12/01/06

US VS JOHN LENNON review

Tim Riley — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 17:59:20 GMT

Interview with David Leaf, co-director of US VS JOHN LENNON, documentary on Lennon's political activism.

Pollini Zeros In On Chopin's Nocturnes

Tim Riley — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 17:01:38 GMT

Dartmouth Dylan Symposium

Tim Riley — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 03:09:58 GMT

New Hampshire public radio's Front Porch, broadcast on August 10, 2006.

Hag, Dixie Chicks, C&W politics...

Tim Riley — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 20:06:34 GMT

Rock Hall Inductees: Sex Pistols, Miles Davis, Herb Alpert

Tim Riley — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 16:06:11 GMT

The name I was fishing for was John McLaughlin.

Dylan's LOVE AND THEFT

Tim Riley — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 15:41:20 GMT

Does this already sound nostalgic? Or prescient? Can Dylan thrash Howard?

The Wipers Box Set (Zeno 2001)

Tim Riley — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 20:25:32 GMT

Only Burma still covers them, the second greatest left-handed guitar hero Seattle ever produced...

Complete Motown Singles

Tim Riley — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 15:46:38 GMT

Paired with Holland Dozier Holland set and Motortown Revue Live!

Gap TV Ads: Rock Heirlooms

Tim Riley — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 23:40:50 GMT

Every so often an adman creams his jeans...

HERE AND NOW: Box Sets

Tim Riley — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:29:51 GMT

12-18-01: Review of duds from Bocelli, McCartney, Jagger, and Jacko

HERE AND NOW: Rock Remasters - Springsteen, Television, Zep

Tim Riley — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 18:09:48 GMT

12-10-03 resissues roundup

Studio 360 WNYC: George Harrison obit

Tim Riley — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 22:56:02 GMT

12-08-01: This got filed a week after he died, deflecting a week's worth of "silent" Beatle blather.

Soundcheck WNYC: Scorsese's Dylan

Tim Riley — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:34:46 GMT

10/20/05: Guest appearance discussing NO DIRECTION HOME with John Schaefer.

Scorsese's Dylan: No Direction Home

Tim Riley — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 17:18:10 GMT

9/26/05: review of NO DIRECTION HOME, Martin Scorsese's bio doc of Bob Dylan.

Wisconsin Public Radio

Tim Riley — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:54:05 GMT

8/10/04: promoting FEVER on Wisonscin Public Radio... easily the best interview covering material from the book.

WNYC's Soundcheck appearance

Tim Riley — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:08:28 GMT

9/27/05: covering this fall's' avalanche of Beatle titles, beginning with McCartney's new album, on to Spitz bio, and then mashups and mono fidelity...

Marketplace guest appearance

Tim Riley — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:51:08 GMT

6/09/05: Promoting FEVER: HOW ROCK'N'ROLL TRANSFORMED GENDER (Picador) with Lisa Napoli.

Welcome!

Tim Riley — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:45:05 GMT